


This never happened before

by thegirlinthefandoms



Series: Raise a little hell [2]
Category: Bucky Barnes - Fandom, Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 12:10:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 13,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5090189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlinthefandoms/pseuds/thegirlinthefandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Feel sorta clumsy<br/>I guess I'm rusty<br/>Ain't done this since God knows when<br/>It may take some little time, Babe<br/>Till I raise hell again.</p><p>Just hold me darlin'<br/>That's all I'm needin'<br/>You ain't got nothin' to prove<br/>Just lyin' with you is perfect<br/>we'll spoil it if we move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Having a discussion with Steve was pointless. Both of them were absolutely stubborn and it was like talking to a wall. 

The Civil War was over, they were all back to the 'normal' life, living on the Headquarter and they could say that Steve and Tony were trying to be friends again. Probably like everyone else. 

But for Em things were a lot like always, everybody was the same, including Steve. The good Captain America was trying to persuade Em to use her powers to bring Bucky's memories back and talking about it was exhausting. "Can you do it or not?" the captain asked, starting to get frustrated for the negative of his friend. "Yes, I mean, technically I can, but I've never done anything like that" Em explained again, looking up at Steve, who was walking from one side to another. "Then let’s try it" Steve insisted starting to annoy Emily. "No, Steve! I know you want your friend back, but I will not do it if that can hurt him!" Emy yelled, getting up from the sofa where she was, standing in front of her friend like if he wasn’t a head taller than her. "Hurt who?" suddenly someone asked and she didn’t need to look to know that it was him.

Both of them looked at the guy standing at the door and suddenly it was a bad idea to have that talk in the middle of the living room for all the Avengers. “Buck…” Steve spoke, but before he could keep going Em interrupted him. "Bucky, we need to talk" she murmured walking where he was. "Look, there's a chance that I could... Bring all your memories back" she simply explained, looking at Bucky right in his eyes. She had learned that, even when he was trying to adapt to the new life, everything was easier to him if Em explained things in a simple way. "Can you do that?" Bucky asked, looking at her and Em could swear that his eyes were shining. "Yes, but I have never done anything like that. I know there's a chance it could work, but there's another chance it doesn't. I don't wanna do this if it could hurt you in any way" Em said, taking his flesh in hers and in that second she could swear that the brightness in his eyes disappeared.

The truth was that Emy never did that before because she never met someone who had his memory wiped for seventy years; in fact, she never met someone with the memory erased or lost even once. Em never thought she would need to do something like that with her powers and it scared her. It wasn’t nothing like energy blasts or making a shield, it was almost playing with his mind, almost just like HYDRA did. "Why?" the soldier asked, looking disappointed and Em felt he was disappointed of her. "They hurt you and played with you for decades. And just thinking about you suffering again... I can’t, I’m sorry” she breathed, feeling Bucky's hand tighten around hers. "But we can try" Steve murmured, and until that moment Em forgot that he was behind her. “Oh, and you can assure that I will not hurt him?” the witch exclaimed, turning to look at Steve. The soldier was looking pissed but she didn't care. It wasn't a good moment for that bullshit and she could have that damn discussion with Steve later. “Look, Em, if you don’t wanna do it…” Steve tried to say again to his friend. "Steve, stop!" Em scream, releasing Buck's hand. "Can you leave us alone for a second? Please?" she hissed again and Steve turned to the door, not even looking at Emily. “Can we talk in your room?" Bucky asked, looking at her. At the moment Em noticed how sad he looked, and it wasn't because of what she told him a second ago. The witch was too busy having a discussion with the Cap to realize it before, even when it was in front of her eyes.

They didn't say anything until they were in Em's room with the door close. Em couldn't handle his sad face, especially not knowing what happened, because until that morning he was acting like always. "Buck, something is wrong, I don't need to be a witch to notice it, you know" Em spoke, taking a sit on her bed and looking up at him as he was fighting himself to talk to her. “They wiped my memory, you know, but… I can remember the faces of the people I… I don’t even know their names, but I remember their faces, Em” he whispered, and his voice breaking as he spoke. "Doll, can I hug you?" he asked again, looking at her. It wasn't the first time he called her like that, so Em was kinda used to it, even when Buck call her that way just when they were alone, but it was the first time he asked for a hug, so Em could imagine how bad he felt. "Come here. You can do whatever makes you feel better, Bucky. You don't need to ask" the brunette affirmed, getting up, walking to him and placing her arms around his neck.

Since the damn Civil War was over and everybody could go back home and to their normal jobs, Bucky moved to the Headquarter with the rest. Emy was staying there too for some time until Bucky was comfortable with his new life and new home. He had a room for himself, just like the rest of the team and next to Em's and Wanda's. Since the pair spent so much time together they became friends in some way, and for Buck it was much easier to open herself with the witch than with his old best friend. It wasn't that he didn't trusted Steve because he did, but with her it was different, maybe because she was the one there every time he had a nightmare. Steve was there to, but he couldn't do help him the way Em did. 

In fact he didn't have a lot of nightmares or panic attacks on the last weeks, maybe he felt safe, but whichever the reason was, Em was happy about it. The problem was that when the attacks were back Steve would probably tell her to leave the room because they never knew how he would react and it could be dangerous for everyone, but especially for Emy. But when he was back to his own self, he would ask if he hurt someone, but especially if he didn’t do anything to the brunette. So most of the time he was Buck, using some words he probably used back in the 40's, but nobody it's perfect after all.

Em kept hugging Bucky -and murmuring on his ear that every was going to be fine- for some minutes, until they let go, but she took his hand and make him sit on the bed with her. "You can tell me whatever you want. If you don't feel comfortable it's fine too. I'll be here if you need me" she murmured, smiling at him, even when he already knew it. 

Bucky knew that they could spend hours just sitting there and Em would never complained about it as she just hold his hand on hers. "I feel like if... Like I just can't handle it anymore, you know, doll? Like all the ghosts are haunting me and someday they are going to get me. They are going to track me down and rip me apart all over again. I can't keep going on thinking about all the people and all the blood in my hands. I wish I could do something to end everything because I just can't..." the soldier explained, looking down at their hands together in front of them. Em was holding his right hand because she knew how he felt about the metal one. “Bucky, we all have blood in our hands, even I do” she affirmed looking down too. “But you were trying to do things right” he said again, still not looking at her. “I was working for S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA was there, and it’s all the same. I don’t know if I was doing the right things. I like to convince myself that I was…” the witch murmured, thinking that in some point she learned to live with that. 

She couldn't say that her hands were clean. They were anything but clean. Sure she didn't worked directly for HYDRA like Buck, but probably most part of SHIELD was HYDRA and she couldn't tell that Steve, Nat and herself were doing the right thing. They always fought against the bad guys but nobody could tell that they weren't the bad ones. “What you did was collateral damage, thinking that you were making right. You didn't see the horror in their eyes before killin' them. They looked at me with the horror you look at a monster. Em, I can’t explain you how guilty I feel all the time and I don’t wanna live with that with that burden on my shoulders” he breathed and when he finally looked up Em could see the tears on his eyes. 

That was just one way to finish all of that and just thinking about it made her feel the tears on her own eyes. There was no way that she could let him do that, not if she could do something, because at that point losing Bucky wasn't even a option to her. "Bucky, look at me" she murmured as he was looking at the side because he couldn't even look at her in the eyes. "James Buchanan Barnes, you look at me right now. Promise me that you would not hurt yourself in any circumstances. You better promise me that right now. Bucky..." she exclaimed, playing the strong girl, but at the end her voice broke and she was just murmuring. She was looking at his amazing blue eyes that looked so sad and Em started crying too. "You can't go anywhere, okay? Steve needs you and I need you, Buck. I need you; you are my pal, remember? I couldn't handle it if something happened to you…" the brown-eyed girl cried now taking both of his hands in hers. “You could go back to your normal life and not taking care of me as if I was a lost boy” he smiled sadly, and it wasn't even fun for Em to hear him saying that.

She didn't wanted to tell him what she was thinking, but now she couldn't help it. “You know what I think? I think that in fact you are a lost boy. I think that deep inside is the old Bucky, trying to be found" she smiled sadly, taking his hand and placing it with hers on his chest, right where his heart was. "He’s probably trying to hide because for seventy years he went through a hell that he didn’t deserve. He was just a normal Brooklyn kid going to dance, laughing, taking girls to dates, saving his best friend’s ass… He was just a normal good kid until someone with a sick mind thought that it was better turning him in a weapon” Em added, letting his hand go but instead placing both of hers on his cheeks. “And here you are, as scared to death as he is, and you are so scared that you can’t see that he’s waiting for you to find him. And I think that you are scared to let him come out, because you think that if the old Bucky shows again HYDRA is going to find you and turn you into the other guy again, just like they did every damn time. You know what I promised you, sweetheart, I will never let them put a finger on you, never again as long as I’m alive. Neither will Steve. But you need to keep your head up, Buck, you need to keep trying to fight and find the old Bucky. Do it for Steve, or for me, but especially for the scared boy right there. Please...” she end up murmuring, and crying worst than before. "I'll do it for you" he whispered back, taking her hand and kissing it and before that Em use her hands to clean the two tears in his cheeks. She could totally live with that as long as Bucky was around.


	2. Chapter 2

That day Em was decided to play her cards and talk to Buck. Well, not really talk, but telling him that a guy just asked her on a date. And it was true. That morning she was trying to find Nat and Maria when a guy asked her if she would like to go with him for a date. His name was Will, he was blond -blonder than Steve-, green eyes and he was working with Professor Selvig on the Headquarter. She had to admit he was cute, but Em told him that she was going to think about it. In another moment she would probably said yes, but now it was different. 

It was stupid, she knew it was stupid as hell, but anyway she took a deep breath and walked to the training room as she knew that Buck was probably there. Em was going to try to play it cool but at that point it was hard as hell. The witch opened the door of the training room and Buck was hitting one of the punching bags, but he turned to look at her and he smiled at the girl, without saying anything.

Since the talk on her room Buck was trying really hard to keep going with his life and Em could notice it. She was happy that Bucky was really doing the effort, no matter if it was for her of for himself. Things between Em and Steve were still a little complicated, but it was sure a matter of time. 

Emy stood there for some time, looking at him hitting the bag over and over again until she took the courage to finally speak. "Hey Buck?" she asked, still standing in the middle of the room. "Yes doll?" he asked back, stopping what he was doing to look at her and she could feel her heart giving a little jump after he called her doll. “A guy asked me on a date and I came to ask you if I should go or not…” she murmured, looking down at the floor trying to hide how red her face had turned in just a second. For her it was no different between saying that and screaming ‘Hey Buck tell me that I shouldn't go to that date' in his face, and that was the answer that deep inside she was waiting. “Emy, why I would tell what you should to do?” Bucky answered, like if what she asked wasn't a big deal to him and Em felt her heart broke. People had punched her really hard, but nothing was compared to that. “Forget it, that’s the answer I needed” she whispered, smiling at him and walking to the door.


	3. Chapter 3

When Steve walked to the kitchen, he would expect anything, but Bucky drinking wasn't an option. "Buck, what are you doing?" he asked, looking at his best friend with a small glass and a bottle of vodka in front of him. "What do ya think I'm doin' here, punk?" Barnes questioned back, looking at the Cap taking sit in one of the high chairs by the island table on the big kitchen. "It sucks that we can't get drunk" he murmured, with a bit of his old New Yorker assent showing as he spoke. "Why are you trying to get drunk?" Steve asked again, smiling friendly to the guy but his side. 

That was a good question. For the first time since he came back to life he was trying to drink his problems or at least make them disappear. When they were just two boys he could do it, but now it was impossible. And sure he had a lot of problems, but that last one was something that he just didn't know how to handle. "I always had a couple reasons, but now it’s a new one. You know, it's stupid, I was or I am the best assassin of the century or maybe of the damn history... The man-weapon who shaped the story for HYDRA. And yeah, I killed God knows how many people, but I can't go and look in the eyes a girl to told her that I like her. And probably in this exact moment she's bein' kissed by some other stupid dude. At least he ain't a coward like me" he brown haired soldier finally exclaimed, taking another shot of vodka and at least it felt good, the alcohol practically burning his throat and saying that he actually liked his friend. "Emy..." Steve laughed, like he finally understood everything. "Yeah, Emily Grape" Bucky affirmed, taking another shot and drinking it like it was water. 

Then it hit him what Bucky had say about Em being on a date. Steve never heard of Emy going on a date since he knew her some years ago. It was just not her type of things. "Wait, she's on a date now? Why? With whom?" Steve asked surprised of the news about his friend. "I don't know, she didn’t say" Bucky murmured, again drinking another shot and he didn't wanted to think about the idiot who was with her. Just thinking about her sad face made the man felt sick and mad at himself. "Bucky, if you like her why didn't you told her? I mean, you are a good guy. It's normal that you are scared to ask her out but come on! It's Emy!" the Cap said, taking the bottle from his friend because he was sure that it was full before Bucky took it. "I couldn’t tell her because I know she would say yes. And she deserves better, pal. She deserves so much better in this life" Buck exclaimed, wanting to hit the table in front of him but he could turn it to dust and it wasn’t a really good option. “You know what the worst is? She came to me and told me if she should go to that date... I could have told her, but I couldn't. I acted like an idiot and I told her 'Why should I tell you what to do?'. Damn, pal, I can't believe it" he breathed, placing his elbows on the table and his head between his hand, still not believing how idiot he could had acted with her. "Hey, I know her, she's a good girl and she's smart, don't worry about it, but next time just go and tell her, pal" Steve affirmed, giving Buck a pat on the back.


	4. Chapter 4

Em wished she could say that the date was pretty cool, but she would be lying. Since they put a feet out of the Headquarter it was weird and something felt wrong, but she put a smile and pushed the feeling to a side. She went to Manhattan with Will in his car that Saturday night because it was her day off-at least free of any mission- and they went to dinner to a lovely place. He was funny, he was good looking, he was a good guy, but he wasn't for her. Also he never mentioned the fact that she was a witch and it was pretty nice from him, but he deserved someone better. Probably a girl who could keep her head on the date and no somewhere else.

The most embarrassing part was that Will noticed that her head wasn't there. "You like someone else, right?" he asked, looking at the girl as he took a sip of wine. "Yeah. I thought that I could... Come here and forget him but I can't..." she murmured, looking at the table and her almost empty glass. 

In that moment she didn't need wine, Em needed probably, a bottle of vodka and drank it until Steve find her and told her that it was enough. "It's Barnes, isn't it?" Will asked again sounding a little disappointed when he said Buck's last name. Em couldn't tell how he knew it, but maybe it was a little obvious at that time. Obvious for everyone except for Bucky. "Yes, it’s Barnes" the brunette answered, finally taking the glass and drinking the rest of the wine. 

It was the first time she actually told someone about it. Wanda didn't knew it yet. Fuck, she didn't want to say it out loud because it made it real, but yes, _she liked Bucky Barnes._

And when she finally say it Will looked even more disappointed and even worried. "Emy, you know he's not the right guy for you. That guy is wild and reckless. He’s unstable in all aspects" he whispered, trying to keep his voice down so the people around them couldn't hear. “You think that I don’t know that? You think I don’t know he’s a mess?” Em hissed, because she hated people talking like that about Buck. After all he was her friend. “I think you don’t wanna see how things are. He’s not going to give you the happy ending or the fairytale, Emily” he affirmed. “There are no happy endings. And I don’t want that, Will, I never wanted that. I know how my story ends and I want it to end it having Bucky by my side” “You know what are you taking on?” “Since the first day I saw him” 

Em opened her wallet, dropped some bills on the table -enough to pay at least her part of the dinner and maybe a little more- and she walked out of the restaurant. She couldn't took a taxi to the Headquarter, so she took a taxi to her second home and some minutes later she was in the Stark tower. That was the good thing about being almost part of the Avengers and working for Pepper: she could get in the tower at any moment and anytime. 

She walked to the floor where the landing strip for the jets was and after dropping her bag she took her phone. For some minutes Em thought about calling Steve or Nat, but it was stupid to call them to pick her up after a date, so she chose another option. "Sam?" she asked when he finally picked up the call. "Ems, what's going on?" he asked her back, but explaining everything was maybe too long and she wanted to be back at the Headquarter as soon as she could. "Hey, man, long story, but can I ask you a favor?" she murmured, totally embarrassed of calling him for that. "Yes, sure, just tell me" Sam responded, sounding intrigued but never saying no. Em was lucky to have a good bunch of friends that she could count on. "Can you come and pick me? I'm on the Stark tower" the brunette said on the phone, closing her eyes and placing her hand on her neck. "I'll go and grab a jet. Stay there and find something to do, I'll be there in thirty minutes" Sam affirmed, hanging the phone and leaving the girl in the middle of the silence of the tower, thinking of what Will had told her. But especially thinking that one day she red a phrase that said 'There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part. So just give me a happy middle and a very happy start' and that at least she wanted a happy middle.


	5. Chapter 5

The jet landed on the Headquarter and it was almost midnight. The fly from the tower to the facility was very calm beside some of Sam's jokes and Em's own head saying that she was an idiot for going to that date. When Sam went to pick her of course that Em had to tell him what just happened, but just the part of the failed date, not the part of her leaving because she liked Bucky. 

As they landed on the facility she said thanks to Sam and walked to the rooms as the man was placing everything back in place. If she was lucky enough everybody will be sleeping and she wouldn't have to give any answers until the next morning. With her heels on her hand, Em walked to the part of the building where she lived with the rest of the team and after placing her fingerprint on the panel next to the door -because you could only get there if you were an Avenger, Agent Hill, Doctor Choo or Fury- and the only light on was one on the kitchen. 

"How was your date?" someone asked, making Em jump and turned to see Bucky, alone on the kitchen. "It doesn't really matter. All I know is that I shouldn't have gone. Don't ask" she explained, walking to the kitchen and then leaving her shoes and bag on the table. When she came close to Bucky the witch could smell alcohol and it was Bucky, even when there wasn't a bottle on the table. "You smell like if someone had dropped a minibar on you" Emy smiled, looking at him and hoping that he didn't try to get drunk, even when it was impossible. "Don't ask" the soldier breathed, turning to look at the girl. "Hey, you're up for a movie? Maybe some cartoons?" the brunette asked, pushing him playfully with her shoulder and laughing alone because why was she asking him to watch cartoons with her in the middle of the midnight? "Sure" Buck accepted, nodding and smiling at her as she took her shoes and bag with one hand and with the other she took his hand to make him walk with her to her room


	6. Chapter 6

She didn't want to be there. Fuck that was probably the last place where Em wanted to be, but she needed to do it. For some reason she needed to. At least she had Wanda by her side since the moment she got the phone call and all the way from the Headquarter to Brooklyn. 

That morning she got a call from a hospital in Brooklyn, in fact, someone called to the tower asking for her and then they called to tell her the news and Wanda was with her in that moment. Her best friend was one of the people who knew almost everything about her life. Some others knew just a part, but Wanda was one of those who knew every detail. Emy almost dropped her phone to the floor when they told her who was looking for her. 

"Hi, I'm looking for Mr. Hamilton's room?" Em asked to the woman in the reception desk of the hospital. She blonde woman write something on the computer in front of her and then looked at the two girls. "Second floor, room 212" she added with a warm smile on her face. "Thank you" both of the witches said as they walked to the elevators. 

They walked around two hallways until they found the door with the number 212 and Wanda grabbed the hand of her friend to make her know that she wasn't alone there, even when she wasn't going to get in the room with her. "Excuse me, ma'am are you related of the patient? Because in case that you aren’t, you can't get in the room. Visiting hours are over" a nurse asked, stopping her before Em could even touch the door. 

Em turned to look at the nurse and she couldn't blame the woman for anything, but she hated the fact that she needed to answer to that question. "Yes, I'm his daughter" the witch responded, with an expression of unhappiness on her face. She hadn’t said that world in years, especially since her mom had passed away so many years ago. "Oh, okay, excuse me then. You can follow me" the blonde nurse smiled, opening the door as the two girls move to the side but Em followed her. "Mr. Hamilton, your daughter, Ms. Hamilton, is here" the nurse murmured to the man at the bed and Em had the need to correct her. "I'm not Hamilton, my last name is Grape" the brunette hissed looking at her. "Oh, excuse me. I'll leave you alone" the woman excused herself, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

The truth was the she hadn't seen that man in twenty years, or exactly since the day he left their house. They were a happy family, not normal, but happy. The problem was that dad was a normal human being but he could handle mom being a witch and having powers, but like he said back then 'I can't handle my own daughter being a freak', so he left when she was seven years old and her powers started to show. Since that day Em felt like a freak until one day she understood that she was just different and she could use her powers to make good things. The rest was story and there she was, in front of the man who once she called her father. 

In fact it was weird because, partly, he looked like the man she once knew and was her dad, but he was gray and wrinkled and he looked sick. The few memories that Em had of him were distant and old, just like him. It was because she grew up having just a mom and a grandmother and knowing perfectly that he left them because they were freaks. "You use your mother's name" he murmured, turning off the TV on the room and looking at her. "Since the day you left" she hissed, looking at him. "How did you found me?" Em asked again, wanting to know how he found that he was working on Stark Industries. "I saw you next to that redhead lady on a magazine. You have a good job. I saw you were also working with the Avengers" he explained, obviously trying to keep the conversation with his daughter even when Em was acting cold as an iceberg. "Yes... I work with them when I can help" she affirmed, looking down to the floor and crossing her arms on her chest, avoiding the look of her father. "And do you have a boyfriend?" he asked, trying so show some interest in her life. "No, but I met someone. He's a good guy. He doesn't care if I have powers and he certainly doesn't think that I'm a freak" Em said, not really wanting to talk about Buck even when she wished to have him there and knowing that the soldier probably would insisted to be there with her.

Em didn't wanted the small talk, she wanted to know why he looked up for her after twenty years and she didn't care if he had a family or something. In fact, when they call her they told her how he was, but she wanted to hear it from him and after that the brunette wanted to get out of there. "Are you going to tell me why did you call me?" she finally asked hoping that the man would to tell her the truth for first time in her life and not keep going with the nice and stupid talk. "I wanted to see you..." he started to say as Em interrupted him. “Oh, you wanted to see me after twenty years, really? This is not about why you are here?" she asked with a bitter tone on her voice and pressing her lips in a thigh line. "Well, partly. I thought that maybe you could convince your mom..." the gray-haired man tried to suggest but not ending what he was saying. "To health you? Well, she's dead. She had been dead for the last nine years, so you can go and ask her on the cemetery" "I didn't know... I'm sorry, Emily" he gasped, acting like if he was sorry. She was sure he wasn’t and he was just saying it because it was right to say that kind of things on those moments. Em had been an agent for eight and she knew how to read people's expressions. Besides, if he didn’t care when he left, why he would care after twenty years?

And fuck, she didn't care about him either, he was just a man who was her biological father but nothing more than that. "If you want to know if I can do it well, no, I can't. Your freak daughter isn't that powerful. I can heal people but not get your cancer away. My freaky friends can't either" she smiled sadly, placing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and hoping that the purple shade wasn't appearing. "Emily, don't treat your father so cold..." the man in the bed insisted, and it was the last thing that she could handle. “I deal with too much shit in my life; I'm not going to deal with this too. You are not my father. The only family that I have are my friends. I have never been so happy in my life, even when I'm surrender by crazy people like me. And I have them and thanks to them I can help people and do something good in this world. So excuse me, but I can't do anything for you. I have to go, I have work to do and time to spend with the people that loves me for who I am" the girl hissed, tears forming in her eyes as she walked out of the room.

 

If Em was happy of something it was Stark and his damn technology, after she and Wanda took the jet, in less than twenty minutes they were back on the Headquarter. When they put their feet there Em never felt more like home in her life. All that she needed after that was find him. Buck had been out for two days with Sam, Steve and Nat on a short mission and by that moment they should be back, so the witch just needed find him in the enormous building. Buck was one of those who knew everything about her and Em wished he was there with her, at least to hold her hand. 

At the beginning she was walking normal, then the steps became faster and at the end she was running around the building until she saw his tall and big frame in the distance and through the tears in her eyes. And when Bucky saw her, he smiled at her until he saw the girl crying and she almost jumped to his arms. "Hey, doll, it's all right. What happened?" Buck asked as he hugged her not caring if people was walking and passing by them. "I went to see my father at the hospital" she murmured against his chest with her hands around his waist as if her life was depending of it. He was the only one who she really needed to hug in that moment. "What? Why didn't you tell me? I could have gone with you, Em" the soldier exclaimed, sounding worried and kissing her head. He felt guilty for not being there for her and instead being on a mission. "Wanda was with me, don't worry. I just... I needed come back here and hug you" the girl sobbed, taking a step back to look at his through her tears. And she couldn’t be happier so see his blue eyes at that moment. "Let's take you to your room so we can clean those tears and talk about it" the blue-eyed man offered, kissing her forehead and walking with her to the Avengers bedrooms.


	7. Chapter 7

Em was walking to the Avengers rooms after a really long session on the training room with Wanda. Since they had almost the same powers, they were training together most of the times. If they didn't do it together Em would do it with Steve or Bucky. That morning Em kept working for a little longer after her friend left and on her way back to her room to take a shower, she felt an agent following her. 

The witch didn't pay attention for some good minutes, until the girl actually walked side by side with her. "Hey, you are Emily, right?" the agent asked a little bit shy at first. "Yes..." Em murmured, looking at her side where she was. The brunette didn't knew all the agents in the Headquarter, there were way too many of them, but she remembered the face of a lot of them even when she didn't know the names. And Em knew that the girl by her side was working on Tech, Accountings, Intelligence or something. "Oh it's an honor to meet you" the girl smiled, now a lot more excited and happy than a second before. "Thanks, I guess" Emy responded as she kept walking. 

Damn Stark for put the damn training room so far from their rooms, because all Em wanted in that moment was to take a shower and keep going with her day instead of being followed by an agent. Em could be weird for being a witch, but that girl was being weirdest walking with her around the place. "Do you mind if I ask you a very personal question?" the girl asked again with a really force smile, trying to look friendly to Em. She was sure that people forgot that besides being a witch she was an agent too and sometimes people could lie really bad. "You can ask, if I'll answer, that's another thing" Em replied, starting to feel very uncomfortable with that girl and thinking, why none of her friends could walk right around the corner to save her front that girl?. "You know what kind of girl Sergeant Barnes likes?" the girl smiled and Emy could swear that if she had been drinking water she would have choked. Then she stopped her steps right there in the middle of the hallway. 

That was when she had the first real opportunity to look at the stalker. The girl was lower than her, green eyes, brown curly hair, and she was wearing the same uniform as everybody else who worked there. She looked like a normal girl who Em could beat if she kept being a pain in her ass. "What?" the witch shortly said, hoping that she realize that she just fucked up asking that question. "Yes, I mean, Bucky is really handsome and I though..." the girl exclaimed with a smile, not understanding the big mistake she was making. “All right, hold on there, honey. What's your name?" Emy asked, with a sarcastic smile on her face and interrupting the speech of the other woman. "Emy. Emilia Morgan" she mentioned and that was definitely too much in one morning. "Okay, this is… Weird…” the witch whispered, closing her eyes for a second trying to concentrate. “Look Emilia, first, you can't call him Bucky, he's not your friend, so call him Sergeant Barnes. Second, you are not here to ask him on a date, you are here to work, that's what Tony Stark pays you for. Third, he has a lot on his back right now and you don't know him, you really don't know Bucky" Emily asserted, trying to sound friendly even when she was pissed as hell. "I thought you say I should call him Sergeant Barnes and not Bucky" Agent Morgan added and at that time Em didn’t know it she was doing it to annoy her or what. "Yes, but I'm his friend, so I can call him whatever I want. Oh, and don't get your hopes up, Agent, he's out of your range. I'm telling you so you don't have to deal with a broken heart" Em affirmed with a politic smile, starting to walk, some steps more and she will be finally at the door of their private place and nobody could bother her in the bathroom.

"This is because you want him for you, don't you, witch? You know he's not yours, right?" suddenly Morgan screamed at her back, making her turn and walk back where the annoying brunette was. Em took her by the arm and pushed her against a wall, not caring if she was hurting her or anything. In fact she was really lucky that she was calm after all. She should never fall asleep near the witch or she could have the worst nightmare of her life. "Look, Agent Morgan, it's better if you stay in your place if you don't want to lose your job in the next five minutes. So stay away from me and from him, are we clear?” Em hissed looking straight at her eyes and letting her hand go but not moving from the way. “And maybe he's not mine, but honey he's not going to be yours, that's for fucking sure" she murmured one last time, leaving the speechless agent behind her and hoping she was very clear with it.


	8. Chapter 8

Bucky wasn't paying attention to anything in that moment. Em was on a mission with Steve and Nat and it was something simple but they needed her, so he was waiting for them to come back, but especially for Em. Buck knew that she was going to be fine, that she was powerful and strong, but he couldn't help to worry for her. That morning he was hitting a punching bag to put all the anxiety out. It was very quiet since everybody should be working like every morning and everybody would use part of the afternoon to practice.

As the door opened the soldier felt his heart racing even more, but it revealed just a normal girl with the all day uniform. "Hi" she exclaimed, waving her hand and waving to him, but Buck didn't pay any attention. "Weird you are not with Grape" the brunette girl said loudly enough so he could hear him above the noise of his hands against the bag. "She's working" Bucky breathed, still not paying attention to her. And in fact it was the first time that he saw that girl and even talked to her. He still wasn’t very used to going around the place alone and talking with people besides the Avengers or Agent Hill. If he was alone it was to go for a run, training or something specific, but not to talk with people, at least not for now. "You are always together. You have something really special, don't you?" the strange girl asked again, standing against a wall looking at him and making the soldier felt uncomfortable. "We are just friends. Just like she's with Rogers or Wilson" Bucky murmured stopping what he was doing. He was just answering to being to be polite but it was enough. 

He walked to the opposite side of where she was standing, on his way to the door when he heard steps behind him again. "Can I... Have you thought about going out on a date with someone? I mean, since you and the witch aren't anything..." the agent suddenly asked, making Bucky stop where he was. "What...? Don’t call her witch, her name’s Emily, in any case call her Agent Grape" Bucky protested, not paying attention to the fact that she actually asked him to go on a date. In his time girls weren't the one asking men to go out. "I thought maybe you and I..." she murmured, looking up at him like she was waiting for a positive answer. "Look, thanks, but I-I can't" the soldier excused himself. He wasn't even thinking about telling her that he liked Emily, but he needed a way to refuse the girl. "Is it because of her?" the agent exclaimed as Bucky started walking again leaving her behind. "It's because I don't even know your name and I'm busy. Excuse me, ma'am" he answered back, finally walking out of the training room.


	9. Chapter 9

Em didn’t remembered clearly what happened, but suddenly the witch heard a scream and a voice calling her name. She felt someone lifting her from the floor. All she could remembered was drinking water and feeling sick, after that everything was black as she fell on the floor of the kitchen. "Bucky?" she murmured, before she could opened her eyes to see that it was Steve the one carrying her. "Where's Bucky? I-I need to talk with him…" the witch murmured again feeling a pain in her stomach and screaming in pain. Emy never felt something as painful as that. Any punch that she had received in her life wasn't as painful as that, and if she was going to die she needed to see Bucky one last time, because she could feel herself dying in Steve's arms."I don't know and it’s not a good moment" Steve gasped, and for Em everything got blurred again. 

She could recognize Steve's voice talking with Sam and Nat in some moment and asking something about Buck and saying something to Doctor Choo and then feeling a soft thing on her back and a needle on her arm as she kept murmuring something probably incoherent about the only person who she wanted to see.

Ten minutes later Steve saw Bucky entering the room where he was waiting to know any news of Em. They were lucky that inside the facility they had Helen and a room that was almost a hospital because he didn’t knew what would have happen with his friend if they didn’t had that place to give her medical assistance. “Steve, I was running outside, what…?" Bucky asked, looking at his friend who had a worried expression. Then he turned to where Steve looked and he saw her lying on a bed in the next room. "Emy..." he whispered feeling that his heart almost stopped. “Dr. Choo sedated her. We think someone had tried to kill her. Someone poisoned her. We still don't know who” Steve explained, knowing that if Bucky knew who it was it would be a mess. “She was asking for you. She asked for you even when they were sedating her. Emy didn't want them to put her to sleep until she could see you. She wanted to tell you something in case anything happens…" and Bucky didn’t know what it was, but he only wanted Emy to wake up to tell him by herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Almost all the Avengers were reunited that day. Besides Tony, Pepper and Clint who came to see what happened with Emy. They all were in an improvised conference room beside where the girl was resting. Bucky was there too, standing in front of the glass that divided the room where Emy was from the rest of them. He was looking at her, even when he knew she wasn't going to wake up any time soon. It was like he couldn't take his gaze away from her beautiful and pale face.

They could have fights to save the world, fights between them but at the end they were still friends, so now someone trying to kill one of them was... It was unbelievable. Saying that she didn’t have any enemies was stupid, because she was an Avenger, even when she didn’t like to call herself like that

Even when Bucky wasn't looking at them he could hear their conversation. "So, we know someone tried to kill Emy" Nat said in some part of the room. "Yes, and it was just her, not any of us" Steve affirmed, closer to where Bucky was standing. "Why did you say that?" Ms. Potts asked from the other side of the room. "It wasn't a normal poison. Whoever did this knew about her powers" Doctor Choo explained, probably because she was the one who made the exams."HYDRA?"Clint questioned. "No, I don't think it was HYDRA. If it was, why would they would want to kill her? They could have tried to kill any of us before her" Steve responded again, standing next to Bucky, looking at Em through the glass. "And the one who did this it wasn't a pro. It wasn't enough poison to kill her after all" Doctor Choo affirmed again. 

They were right and the soldier knew it. If HYDRA wanted to kill someone it wouldn’t be Em. It could be Steve, Nat or even him, but Emy was out of their target, even when they could know she was protecting Bucky. But it wasn't HYDRA, it wasn't their style and he knew it, probably better than anyone. 

"She ate something outside here? She went somewhere?" Tony asked, as they were trying to find out who was the one who tried to hurt Em. "No. We all know Emy doesn't have family or friends outside, especially since she came here" Wanda murmured from behind Steve and him. The witch was also worried as hell her best friend and Bucky couldn't blame her. Just thinking about someone hurting her make him want to kill whoever do that to her. And he better didn't found out who did it. "It was someone from here. Perfect, just perfect" Tony exclaimed, and he could hear steps walking from side to side even when he didn't know who it was. "Who was the last one to be with her?" Nat asked. "I think it was me…" Wanda breathed, walking to the glass to stand with the two men. 

It wasn't Wanda and he knew it. The last one who was with Emy was him. "No, it was me. I saw her after you. Emy told me she was with you" Bucky finally spoke, turning to look at the rest of the people in the room. He had saw Emily that morning, just before he went to run and after she spent the morning with Wanda. In some point she was trying to spend as much as she could with them, because the witch was leaving the Headquarter in a month to go back to Manhattan. "Barnes you didn’t..." Tony murmured, looking straight at the soldier. “Are you trying to say it was me who tried to kill her?" They could call and say whatever they wanted about him. They could call him monster, HYDRA puppet, killer, assassin or whatever, but he would never do anything to hurt someone as amazing and good as her. "I'm just saying you were with her and then you disappear in the exact moment the poison made effect on her body" Stark pointed, walking to where Bucky was. "Oh come on, Stark, I was an assassin, if it was me you think I would be here in first place? And if it was me she would be dead by now... I would never try to hurt her!" the blue-eyed man yelled, standing in front of the other guy and Steve had to stop him placing his hand on his shoulder as all the people in the room was looking the scene. "Why? Because you are one of the good guys now?" Tony kept pushing and it was enough for Bucky. "No, because I love her. Are you happy now?!" he shouted, telling all the truth in his face.

And there was a complete silence, because of course, nobody expected that the bad guy would be shouting in the middle of the room that he was actually in love, when probably part of them were thinking that he didn’t had feelings. "Oh shit" Sam whispered in a side of the room. "Of all the things I could imagine happening, this wasn't one of them" Burton said in another part of the room and Buck couldn’t handle been there anymore. "If you are all so kind call me when you are out of here so I can come back to see her" he murmured, walking to the door with his old friend following him.

The second he crossed the door the soldier let himself fell on the floor. It passed less than seven hours since they sedate Em and from the moment he found out he didn’t took his eyes from her. He couldn’t and he didn’t want to. Bucky needed to know that nobody was going to get close to her again and that nobody was going to hurt her. "I can understand the fact that I did horrible things in my life. Some nights I still can’t sleep thinking about it and I have nightmares. I can handle it. Maybe I even deserve it, but I can't believe they think I could have done anything to Emy" the man on the floor murmured, hiding his face with his hand for some seconds. "Buck, we are all worried for her, no one thinks you did it. Even when it looks like Stark thinks that, don't take it personal, man, seriously" Steve explained trying to make him felt better, even if it was impossible.

The older soldier knew for sure that it was personal. Of course it was personal for Stark. Bucky killed his parents when he was The Winter Soldier, and even when he wasn't himself their blood was on his hand. It was enough that Stark was letting him live in one of his places like the rest of the team.

Steve looked at the soldier on the floor who had his clenched fists against the floor and he was glad that his friend found someone as good as Emy. After all those years he deserved to be with someone as good as her in his life. "So... Buchanan is in love. I've known you for years and not even once you fell in love with any girl and here you are" Steve smiled, looking down at his friend. "In love with a witch. I guess I was just waiting for her to be born" Bucky joked, and it was the first time that he smiled since he found out about what happened with Emy. "She's going to be fine, right?" he asked, serious again and looking at the Captain. "Yes. They are just waiting for all the poison to be out of her system. If we are lucky they are going to wake her up tomorrow. You are going to tell her how you feel about her?" Steve asked, knowing that it was going to be absolutely hard for his friend to tell the truth to Emy. "I don't know. Maybe it's too soon. She needs to rest" he answered in a deep breath, resting his head against the wall.

Steve knew that was an excuse, but he couldn't blame him. He probably would have done the same on his place. "You want to go back there?" he said, pointing the door and changing the subject of the talk. "No, you can go. I'll be here until you are done" Bucky murmured. He didn't want to hear the things that Stark probably would say about him. Any other day he could deal with it, but that day his head was focused on Emy and especially in find who tried to kill her. "Hey, pal, can you ask them to not say anything about... I don't want Emy to find out because someone else told her" he added and it was more like asking for a favor than a question. In response Steve just nodded with a small friendly smile after he walked inside the room again.


	11. Chapter 11

Bucky didn’t know how, but Wanda and Steve convinced him to go and grab something to eat and take a shower. They basically told him that he couldn't look like crap when she woke up, so he decided to go to his room to take a shower, change his clothes and maybe eat something. 

He was walking fast and with his gaze down to avoid everyone simply because he wasn't in the mood. Bucky just wanted to go back to Em’s side, even when he knew that Steve and Wanda were taking good care of her. 

Also his head was handling too much things and one of those was if he should tell Em or not about his feelings. Everything was so damn confusing and perhaps after all a shower was a good idea to clean his thoughts.

The soldier was almost around the corner when out of nowhere the girl from the other day and the weird conversation appeared in front of his eyes. "Agent Barnes, I heard what happened to Agent Grape, such a pain..." the girl said, starting to walk by his side or at least trying because he was too fast for her.

The old soldier knew that something was wrong about that and about that girl. "Who told you about that?" he asked, not even looking at her. "The walls here have ears, you know. How is she doing?" the agent asked, trying to hide something in her voice. He was old and trained to know that she was lying, also the entire team promised that no one was going to say anything about the incident. "It's not of your business, Agent" he answered, finally reaching the Avengers side of the Headquarters and leaving the girl behind.

The moment the doors were closed he took his phone and called his friend. He needed to be sure that nobody said a world about Em to anybody. "Steve? Somebody knew something about Em besides the team?" he asked when his friend picked up the call."No, just the people who was on the room yesterday, why?" the Cap asked back and finally everything was crystal clear for the Sergeant. "Pal, I think I know who tried to kill Emy" he answered and he could hear the metal pieces of his arm moving.


	12. Chapter 12

When Em opened her eyes everything was too bright and confusing. She didn't remember where she was, but in a second everything hit her back and the witch remembered the pain, Steve carrying her, the voices, her own voice asking for Bucky and then nothing else. She didn't have to be a genius, an agent or an Avenger to know that someone had tried to kill her.

But Em stopped caring about it the second she turned her head and saw Bucky sleeping in a chair too small for his huge body, next to the bed where she was. Both of his arms were crossed against his chest and his head was tilted a little to the left. The dark bags under his eyes were darker than usual, so she knew he hadn't slept well for days, and probably had short and shitty naps in that small chair. 

Em sat on the bed and called the soldier a couple times, her voice in a whisper knowing that it wasn't probably good to wake him up abruptly. The girl just wanted to let Buck know that she was fine and that he could go and get some good sleep. And after some tries her whispers worked. “Hey, there you are” she smiled when his blue eyes where open. "Sorry I woke you up. I wanted to tell you that I'm fine" she whispered as Bucky was trying to understand what was happening. “I don't even know when I felt asleep. I'm glad you are awake. You gave me a hell of a fright, Em” he say when he was finally awake and up from his spot, standing next to her. “Yeah, sorry about that. Some douchebag thought that it was a good option poison me. You found whom at last?” the girl asked, wanting to know who's head and ass she was going to kick as soon as they let her get up.

Bucky didn't knew if was a good option tell her the truth. He was the one who found out that the weird girl was the one who tried to kill Em, but they didn't let him take care of it. Natasha and Maria were in charge of that and Fury was the one taking the decision of what was going to happen to her. Neither they let the soldier know why she poisoned Em. “Yes, it was a girl, her name is Emilia something” he finally confessed, sitting in a side of the end of the bed. "Emilia Morgan?” Em asked and they could hear the heartbeats going faster in the machine next to the bed. Knowing that it was going to be something complicated to handle Bucky just nodded. “Oh, that damn bitch! I should have kicked her ass when I could!” the witch exclaimed, throwing her head back against the pillow and hitting the bed with both of her hands. “It doesn’t matter now, don’t worry. How do you feel?" the Sergeant questioned, trying to change the subject when he saw that her hands were having a soft purple glow. Lucky for them, it disappeared when they changed the subject. "Tired, weird, and my back is killing me, but besides that I'm good. Were you watching over me?" she said taking a deep breath. In times like that, Emy was totally convinced that not being able to heal her own body with her powers sucked more than anything in the world. "Yes. I wasn't planning on leaving you alone at least until you were awake" Bucky affirmed, placing his hands in the pockets of his jean.

He was making her job hard. Bucky was being so adorable and good with her that she couldn’t help but falling for him a little bit more with every minute that passed. But in the other hand in some weeks she was going back to her job with Pepper and for Bucky it was safer if he stayed there with Steve, away from the craziness of the city and away from HYDRA. She wasn’t going to stay, but Em wouldn't ask him to go with her. And that damn thing that was showing how fast her heartbeats were and it wasn’t helping at all.

"Oh, I… I have something for you” Bucky suddenly say, moving closer to her, until he was in front of her and their knees were resting together in some way. “I was going to give it to you later, you know, when you leave headquarters to go back to the tower, but I guess it's better give it to you now. And I know you have your mother’s necklace, but…” he murmured. The soldier took carefully one of her hands with his metallic one and with the other he placed something in the palm of the girl’s hand. Em opened it, not really knowing what to expect and for sure it wasn’t what she was waiting from something like Bucky. In her hand was a little gold star next to a little silver crescent moon on a silver and thin cable chain. The brunette looked at the man in front of her with a silly and small happy smile in her face, expecting an explanation for the gift, but she was speechless. This time she didn’t even care the mess that the heart rate monitor was making. “It's a moon and a star because the moon it's the one who put the light on the night and the stars can guide you home, and you were my guiding light and my light in the middle of the nights. Well, you still are, doll” Bucky explained and his eyes were looking at her hand with the necklace, but he looked up at her when he finished and then her heart just melted.

He was right about the one that she had from her mom. It was something that she gave to her when Emy was younger. That one was a amethyst crystal point with a cable chain made from tungsten. It wasn’t made of Vibranium, but it was resistant anyway. The stone was brought from Ural Mountains and it was almost the same color as the violet light that she could made with her hands and her powers. For Em was like her good luck charm and now she was going to add a new one to the collection.

Em looked at it one more time and she felt a tear falling on her cheek. “This…” she murmured, cleaning her face with her free hand and then she took Bucky’s flesh hand in hers. “Thank you Buck. For this, and for watching over me. And I know that you don’t believe that it’s truth, but you are the most sweet and adorable man I had ever meet in all my life” she added with a sweet smile. “I'm not only going to keep it forever just like the one my mom give to me, but also I will look at every time I need to remember where my home is” the girl breathe, still overwhelmed. “And where is that?” he asked, removing with his metal arm another tear from her cheek, and he touched her face like she was a porcelain doll, not because she was afraid of him but because Buck was scared of hurting her. “Well, you know what they say, home is where the heart is, so…” she laughed softly, this time, making the soldier heart melt.

Then someone knocked at the door and both of them took their hand away from each other, but Emy didn’t want to do it and after almost losing her, Bucky wasn’t in mood to let her go, regardless of whoever was on the other side of the door. “Can we come in?” Wanda asked, poking her head through the door, followed by the good Captain. "Hi guys" Em smiled, happy as hell to see her best friends again. "It's good to know you are awake" Steve smiled, closing the door after they were in the room. “Awake and alive. And it looks like if I almost had to die to have my three favorite people with me in one room” Em joked when Wanda sat besides her on the bed and knowing that if she had the three of them there the rest of the world and the craziness could wait. “Don’t you dare to make a joke like that again, Grape” the other witch affirmed, throwing her arm around her friend shoulders. "Let's better call Helen so she can check you and make you shut up" Steve joked, making the small group laugh and that was all Em needed to be fine again.


	13. Chapter 13

The three soldiers were in one of the cars they had in the Avengers Headquarter. They could use a jet to get to the Avengers Tower in Manhattan, but Steve insisted that they could drive instead of flying. Sam was at the wheel, Steve by his side and Bucky on the back, looking at the fields and the road through the window and not paying attention at the conversation between the two Avengers. “Hey Barnes? You know Vi is going to the party, right?” Sam asked, trying to take the attention of the man in the back. “Oh, is she?” Bucky asked, hiding every sign of emotion that he could show when he heard news about her. "That's what Tony said" Steve spoke, looking at his old friend by the rearview mirror.

Steve knew from the beginning that Bucky liked Emy. One day Bucky told him, a couple weeks later Emy leave the Headquarter for a mission. Steve insisted that Buck should told her but that never happened. Then everybody found out that Bucky was in love with Em, but nobody ever told her anything, probably because they didn't wanted to deal with a pissed solder and ex-assassin with a metallic bionic arm.

It passed a month since Emy left the Avengers Facility and they just text a couple times, nothing important. For Bucky, it was maybe better that she left, or that's what he thought at the beginning, but a week later he started missing having her around. The soldier knew for sure the girl was out of his radar. She was a girl with the world at her feet, wearing amazing clothes, traveling all around the world and trying to make right things in the world; and he was a poor dropout guy with six bucks to his name, probably just five bullets on his pockets, a horrible past and his memories destroyed. Even all the things that he had weren't his at all, except for the clothes she bought for him when they hid on her place when they met. 

He looked at the two guys in front of him and then back at the windows, trying to forget the fact that the only girl he cared about probably would never felt anything for him. “Are you going to tell her that you wanna let her try all her little tricks on you?” Sam joked making Bucky and Steve turn at him with a murderous look. Sam and Emy always joked; they were good friends, perhaps because they have more in common and especially because they weren’t brought back from the 40s. Bucky knew that but he still couldn’t handle the idea of someone speaking about her like that, even when it was a joke. “Wilson…” Bucky hissed trying to let the man clear that it wasn’t a good idea to make those stupid jokes in front of him. “Sam, stop. You remember Emy is our friend, don’t you?” Steve asked, sounding a little pissed for his friend joke and especially because he knew how Bucky felt for Emy. “Like Steve says, she’s our friend. Besides, there’s no way she likes me back, so no, I’m not goin' to tell her anything” Buck breathed, looking at his hands and at the end of the phrase his voice was almost a whisper. He didn't like to talk about those things in front of people and it was making him feel bad, especially knowing how things were. “Dude, you just remember my words, the little witch is totally into you” Sam said for the last time before Steve changed the subject of the conversation, yet Bucky couldn't get Sam's words out of his head for the rest of the ride.


	14. Chapter 14

After Bucky followed Emy around the tower, they ended one of the floors where you can walk out and go to the insanely huge balcony. They were lucky that it was summer so they went outside, to the New York air and amazing lights of Manhattan. For Em one of the good things about working there was the beautiful view that she could have all day from almost every floor of the building.

The witch had a glass of champagne on her hand, Bucky by her side. It was the best view and company that she could ask for, especially after a month or so of not seeing the soldier. For some time they didn’t say anything, probably because it wasn’t necessary, or at least it wasn’t until Bucky spoke. "I've been thinking about you lately" he admitted, looking at the girl. "Really? The super soldier has been thinking about me? Wow…" she smiled and thanks God for the fresh air because otherwise his face would be completely red. "Actually... I had a dream... With you" he said, looking down at that floor. Maybe it was a really bad idea to tell her that. "Was it a nightmare?" Emy asked, scared as hell that Bucky would tell her something like that. "No. I... It was back in the 40's. It was the old me, you know? And I was on a party havin’ a drink or something. It was no big deal and then everybody turned around when you came through the door. You were on a red dress and you walked straight to me, you smiled, took my hand, we walked to the middle of the place and we started dancing a slow song. Just that" he told her, omitting how the dream kept going. Bucky didn’t mention that in his dream he had the courage to kiss her as they were dancing. It was just a small kiss, but in that alternative universe he had his two arms and he could really hold Em close to him, without the constant fear of hurting her.

In that second Emy had the most stupid idea in the entire world. It was stupid, cheesy and there was like fifty percent of possibility that Bucky would tell her that she was crazy, but it was her chance to play her cards. It was then or maybe never. “Well, we are in a party and I’m wearing a red dress… You wanna do that now?” she asked, turning to look at him. “Do what?” Bucky asked, turning too. “Dance with me?” she asked in a whisper, shrugging her shoulders. “There is no music, Emy” the soldier laughed, knowing that there was no music where they were. “That's the beauty of the 21st century; I can fix it in one second” she smiled, taking his glass and leaving it on the floor with hers. Then she took her purse from the floor and grabbed her phone. “Let's see which's the first 40's song I can found here...” the brunette said as she went throw the music on her phone until she found what she was looking for: a playlist called ‘The old good 40’s’. “You have 40's songs on your phone?” the man exclaimed, not believing that a girl like her could have music from that time in her phone. And he didn’t believe it until some slow music began to sound. “Since I met and become friends with Steve, and especially since you came along, I try to learn what I could from that time. I feel like I needed to do it, I don't know. Despite wars, diseases and other things, it must have been a nice time to live. Everything seemed easier” the girl explained, leaving the phone on the floor, with the music still playing. “Depending on your definition of easier" he said, looking at her eyes and for some reason both of them started to laugh.

They were alone in that big crazy building with slow music while inside there was a party and Manhattan seemed so big from the view and all that Em wanted in that moment was to be in his arms for some good minutes and nothing more. “Are you going to dance with me or no, Sergeant Barnes?” she said with a cocky smile and her hands on her waist like she had been waiting for him for hours. And just like that Bucky moved one step to her, he took her hand and placed is metallic arm carefully in Em’s waist. She just placed her free hand around his shoulder and smiled like she was the luckiest girl alive. “The last time I did this Steve was still way lower than you” he joked, making Emy laugh against his shoulder. “Well, I hope you know that this is the first time I do this, sorry if I step on your feet” she laughed, moving back just a few to see him smiling and shaking his head. She could see him smiling for the rest of the night and it would be a beautiful plan, better than any crazy party.

One more song passed and they were there just moving with the music and no hurry and Em had hundred of questions that she wanted to ask out loud but she just choose one of them. "You think it would have been easier for... For us back there?" the witch murmured, not even knowing if he was paying attention or if he was in his own world. "It would have been like my dream, taking you to dates, asking you if you have a friend to introduce her to the little Steve. I didn't have a lot of money but it would have been fun going to dance and those things. It might have been easier, maybe you're right. But I would have gone to war anyway” Bucky told her, thinking that it would be amazing had a chance with her in some better place and some better moment. And perhaps in some better reality. “And I would have waited for you. I would do it now if you ask me too” Emy answered, showing hope in her bright green eyes. 

The soldier suddenly stopped moving but he didn’t let her go and Em was glad for that. He wanted to be with her, but it was truth that he couldn’t offer anything, not even safety when he was so ruined in every aspect. “I wish I could be the man that I was back there so I could be the guy that you need and specially the one you deserve” he whispered, moving a lock of hair away from her face. “Buck, if this is about you opening to someone it's fine, I totally understand. I will not put any pressure on you or anything like that… I told you, I will wait for you if you want me to wait, just tell me if you don’t want me to do it” she breathed with sadness in her eyes and voice. “But James, if this is about your past… Look, you are a good man, I know that. We all have issues, we all have a past and we got baggage too. I mean, I’m not perfect…” Em said and Bucky just walked some steps away from her, but never stop looking where she was. “Yes, you are. You are beautiful, brave and you are a good person..." Bucky exclaimed, not knowing if he should keep going but at that point all the cards were folded, even for him. "Look, doll, I really like you but I have nothing to offer you. Literally nothing. I'm broken, dangerous and I will never give you what do you need. Or even afford the things you use or wear..." he said, pointing at her beautiful dress. 

And then Emy had enough. Enough of him saying that he wasn’t good; that he couldn’t offer anything to her; and enough of him not understanding that she wanted to be with him no matter what. "Why don't you let me decide that?" she asked when she was again in front of him and not even thinking about the consequences Emy placed her hands on his cheeks and her lips on his. It wasn’t a big kiss, just a small chaste one, with their lips together for some seconds, hopefully enough to let him know how she felt for him. "I like you, Barnes. I really do. Please don't shut me out. Please..." Emy begged, looking at him in the eyes and caring his handsome face with her thumbs. The feeling of her skin against is and their lips together were all he needed to let go the fears at last. He could deal with that the next day. "I won't, I promise I won’t" he murmured, with his hands back on her waist and their foreheads together. 

Bucky kissed the witch a couple more times before they going back to reality, the party and the rest of the team, and it was all smiles and shy laughs and more kisses and he couldn’t be more glad that it was happening after all. "So, it's going to be like this when we get back to the party or we are just going to play it cool, being friends like always?" Em asked as she was grabbing her phone, her bag and the empty glasses and Bucky was with the almost empty bottle of champagne. "I like you so much that I don't even think I would be capable of having you away from me for too long" he affirmed, watching at her walking in front of him. 

Once again in the building Em didn’t even bother to bring the glasses back to the party so she let them in some table and they went to the elevators, but before it arrived Buck called her. “Em?” “Yes?” she said smiling. “You think we can make it, darlin’? I mean you and me…” he asked and the girl didn’t need any explanation for it. “Let’s see if we survive the next ten minutes. Then another ten and so on, what do you think?” the witch offered like it was a deal, knowing that maybe it wouldn’t be easy for a big list of reasons but they didn’t care. “I think that I’m crazy for you, doll” Bucky murmured against her lips at the same time that the doors of one of the elevator get opened.


End file.
